


Your eyes can be so cruel

by WishaDream



Category: A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting (2020)
Genre: Aged Up, College, Costumes, Crushes, F/F, First Kisses, Halloween, Labyrinth References, Requited Love, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Short Story, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but i just wanted to do something short, college party, halloween fluff, i really liked these characters, just wanted to write a how they got together story, might write something more elaborate some day, might write someting longer later, wish i had included some references and quotes to it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27388777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishaDream/pseuds/WishaDream
Summary: Kelly Ferguson is excited to hang out with her friends for Halloween, most of all Liz Lerue. The girl who brought her into the magical world of secret organizations and monsters.
Relationships: liz lerue/Kelly Ferguson
Comments: 13
Kudos: 40





	Your eyes can be so cruel

**Author's Note:**

> Watching the movie gave me Labyrinth vibes. And while you'd think I'd cast the bad guy as Jareth, with his singing and child stealing, I don't know, I just felt Liz gave off the goblin king vibes the most.  
> So with that in mind I give you this short little story.

If she attached this wire at the base that would…no. She needed something in between to ensure the—

“Kelly.”

The girl startled as she turned back to find her mother standing in the doorway of her room.

“It’s seven fifteen.”

Her brow lowered in confusion as she turned to look at the clock. No. That couldn’t be the correct time. She’d set an alarm to ensure she did not work past seven.

Looking at her phone she saw the message for a missed alarm. She’d been so focused she hadn’t even noticed it going off.

Setting aside her tools she got up from her work station as she headed to her closet where her change of clothes waited.

“Is Victor going to be picking you up?”

Kelly paused at her mother’s question.

In high school she’d had a huge crush on Victor Colietti. She had even been really excited when he’d asked to hang out with her. But each time they planned something her babysitting duties had taken her attention away and she’d had to cancel.

It took them two years before they were finally able to go on their first “date.” By that point she realized that her feelings for Victor were as for a friend. She liked hanging out with him, but it wasn’t as special as she’d thought it would be.

The whole time she was half distracted, wondering what Liz and the others were up to.

If she was out on a mission.

If she was in a fight.

If she was safe.

Most girls would have been focused on Victor, but all she could think about was a new flashlight that she could make to help her and Liz on their missions.

At the time she wondered if she was just one of those girls who focused all their attention on work. Who never really felt that urge to date someone or ever developed romantic feelings for anyone.

Or perhaps it just wasn’t Victor that she’d wanted to go to dinner with.

In the present she told her mother, “No, he’s going to be meeting me there.”

In the reflection of her mirror she saw her mother frown.

‘You’re not going to be getting a ride from that Liz girl, I hope.”

As a parent it was understandable that the woman did not care for Liz.

Last year the two girls had been arrested after being caught on private property while tracking a monster.

As far as her mother knew Liz was a bad influence, but Kelly knew the whole story.

It was only thanks to Liz that Kelly’s first night as a babysitter had not ended horribly. And it was because of her friend that she had found out that the monsters she’d feared in her youth were actually real. It was also thanks to Liz that Kelly was part of the Order of the Babysitters, a secret organization working to protect the world from a group of monsters that preyed on children.

But her mother didn’t know any of that. And she never would if Kelly could continue to manage keeping her double life from the woman. It was a little easier now that she was older and didn’t have a curfew to worry about.

The only problem now came from her mother’s insistence that she didn’t have to continue babysitting since she was in college.

“Leave that up to the younger kids who aren’t focused on college courses.”

But it wasn’t about getting extra spending money or college credit. It was about being able to protect kids from the monsters that lurked in the shadows.

But that wasn’t the only reason she kept going out every night. It also gave her an excuse to spend time with her friends at Babysitter HQ. Especially Liz, who was hard to pin down otherwise.

“Okay, mom. I’ve got to finish getting ready.”

Her mother gave her one more worrying frown before leaving the room as Kelly finished getting changed into her Halloween costume.

It was the local college’s annual Halloween party that night and Kelly and the other members of the order of the babysitters were going to try to take off the night to enjoy the college party.

Unlikely, but there was a slim chance the monsters would take a night off.

She snorted.

As if the monsters were ever that considerate.

But she would hopefully get a few hours to spend with Liz and her friends before the monsters started their usual mischief.

Most other nights when things were quiet she’d sit and wish that something would happen. And she’d wonder what Liz and the others were up to.

Especially Liz. The girl did not just sit around and wait for things to happen to her. She went out and found the trouble.

Kelly wished she were more like her. Adventurous. Willing to take risks.

But that wasn’t who Kelly was.

Kelly liked to play it safe. To think things through completely and then cautiously head forward knowing that things would change along the way, but knowing she could adapt as needed.

Not to say that Liz was careless. She did her own kind of planning and researched her enemies. But she was still impulsive; she had used a baby for bait the first time they’d met.

Though Liz had more experience than Kelly and was willing to jump into danger when needed, when it had come time to save Liz’s brother she had relied on Kelly to come up with the bulk of the strategy to save him.

Had it been around then when things had changed for her?

Perhaps it was just something that had been growing over time. Changing, evolving. Something you couldn’t really quantify, or pinpoint the time when things changed, It was something that was made up of several moments that led up to the realization that she was not a girl who just focused on science alone and never felt romantic inklings.

There was something she liked more than math. Someone she liked more than formulas and equations.

When Kelly was done getting ready she gave herself one last look over.

She had chosen to dress in the ballroom costume from the Labyrinth.

While the skirt was wide, making it hard for her to move, she’d made sure to add a tear away feature in case they got called into action. The skirt also did an amazing job of hiding all the tools she’d strapped to her legs.

While Sarah Williams had probably been wearing heels, Kelly had opted for a pair of high tops that wouldn’t slow her down if she needed to run. And they did a lot of running.

She couldn’t pull off the full curls of the character so had put her own twist on the hairstyle with braids which she’d intertwined with blue string and silver rings on which she’d attached small feathers and strings of beads.

A rumbling from outside drew her to the window as she looked out just as a motorcycle rolled up to the front of her house.

When they were younger Liz had driven a moped. Now that they were basically adults Liz drove a monster of a bike.

A sports bike for speed, with pouches full of monster hunting gear. Curtis had even equipped it with weapons like light guns in pop out holsters, sonic boom fists which were a part of the handlebars which detached when on slid their fingers into the grips and pressed the activation button.

Kelly’s mom didn’t like seeing her riding on the back of the bike, but she would have liked it even less if she’d known just how dangerous the bike could be.

Even more worried if she knew where they usually rode the bike. Right into danger. Like the lair of the Spider Queen when they’d confronted her to save Liz’s little brother.

“I’m heading out,” called Kelly as she headed down the stairs.

“Be safe. And no drinking,” called her mother from the living room.

Outside the cool October air sent a shiver down Kelly’s spine. She shivered again for an entirely different reason as the bike’s owner removed her helmet.

Liz usually kept her cotton candy pink hair styled short. Tonight she’d put on a wig, still pink, but styled long with a feathered cut.

The friend group had said they’d dress as their favorite movie characters.

The last time they’d spoken Liz hadn’t decided what she’d wanted to dress up as for the Halloween party.

Kelly had several favorite movies but in the end she’d chosen Labyrinth as the movie reminded her of the very first Halloween she’d spent with Liz chasing down a madman who had stolen a child.

Kelly wondered if Liz felt the same as she realized her friend was dressed as Jareth. Jareth’s ball attire with velvet black pants, dark blue coat with lapels and cuffs done up with sparkling jewels of various shades of blue. A silver ruffled collar lay across her chest as the coats long tail fluttering behind her in the fall air.

She looked just like a fey creature come to take Kelly off to live in their magical realm forever.

“You—you look amazing.” Kelly sounded breathless and wondered if Liz noticed.

Would she believe it was due to Kelly having had to rush to get ready, having lost track of time as she was prone to do.

If she did believe otherwise she didn’t let on as Liz’s smile crooked to the side. She performed a bow, holding out her arms to the side as she dipped her head. Then returning to full height she extended her gloved hand as she said, “My lady.”

Yes, when she was in middle school she’d had a crush on Victor. But over the years her feelings had changed.

Her fingers shook slightly as she reached out, hesitating for a moment before taking a hold of Liz’s offered hand.

The girl’s smile widened as she turned back to the bike. She kept a hold of Kelly’s hand, only letting go after they were on the bike together. Only after Liz had wrapped Kelly’s hands around Liz’s waist.

Kelly felt her heart shiver even before the bike rumbled to life.

They had ridden like this many times before, every time they went out on a mission, Kelly’s arms wrapped around Liz’s waist. But tonight it felt different. With no mission to take her focus the only thing Kelly could think about was how warm it was pressed into Liz’s back.

She took a breath to calm herself and only ended up breathing in Liz’s scent. The smell of honey and clover filling her lungs. Her head spun as she held tighter, afraid she might fall off otherwise.

The loud rumble of the bike kept them from having a conversation as Kelly focused her full attention on evening out her breathing.

Liz took it slow as the streets heading to the college were filled with trick-or-treaters.

Kelly let herself get distracted watching the children run around in their costumes. There was a robot and ghost. She smiled, remembering how much fun she had had at that age running around collecting candy.

Now that she was older she could just go out and buy candy, but she would always miss that time, heading out with her friends in costume to fill her basket with free candy. Sure, it had been nerve-wracking to have to stand at the door and say the magic words “trick or treat” before you were granted candy in payment for your cute smiles, but she chose to remember the time as pleasant.

A simpler time before she had responsibilities.

Speaking of, she noticed a light on the motorcycle screen blink. Leaning in she called out so Liz could hear her over the rumble of the bike.

“Is that a monster alert?”

Liz didn’t remove her eyes from the road as she called back, “I’ve got the SITs monitoring the alerts. They’ll let us know if there’s something we need to take care of.”

Kelly hadn’t realized how much she didn’t want the night interrupted by monsters until she felt her body relax at the news.

Usually she spent her weekends wishing for an alert to come so she could get out of the house. But just for one night she’d like a day where her and Liz could just be normal teens.

No monsters.

No children in peril.

Ahead she spotted the school. The outside had been done up with blow up ghosts, black and orange dangly lights and strings of bats.

Other students were filing up the long driveway in their own costumes as Liz passed them on her bike. She pulled into a private parking spot reserved for the older babysitters. Once the bike was off, Liz held it steady as Kelly untangled her skirts from the bike and got off.

Seeing Liz watching her closely she assured her, “The skirt is easily removed if we need to do any babysitting.”

The girl’s lips pursed like she hadn’t been thinking that at all, “Hopefully we won’t have to use that option.”

The party was located in the school cafeteria. Following the crowd they headed into the school, heading down the halls to the back where the eating area was located.

The walls of the school were decorated with more Halloween accoutrement. Cut outs of laughing pumpkins. Strings of stuffed bats. A ghost piñata.

Berna was the first of the group they spotted as they stepped into the room. She smiled, the look fading into a frown as she noticed their costumes.

“Seriously? Another couple’s costume.”

Kelly felt her cheeks flush as Liz inquired, “Who is dressed as a couple?”

“Well, besides you two, “ Berna turned, motioning off to Cassie and Curtis who were dancing together.

Their costumes looked to be a witch and a goblin.

“Who are they supposed to be?” inquired Liz with a confused eyebrow lift.

“Marnie and Luke the goblin from Halloween town,” explained Berna, “If I had known we were going to be pairing off I would have found myself an Emmet.”

“A what?” inquired Liz.

Berna frowned as she extended her arms so the girl could take in her costume, “I’m WyldStyle from the Lego Movie.”

Before Liz could comment on this the other two members of their team noticed their arrival as they hurried over.

“I like your costume,“ stated Cassie as Kelly returned the compliment.

“Who are you supposed to be?” inquired Curtis of Liz.

“The Goblin King,” Liz did a circle so he could take in the full costume.

Curtis’s nose crinkled as he inquired, “Why would you dress as a villain?”

Liz lifted her shoulders in a shrug before looking over at Kelly. She shifted her eyes away from Liz’s as she smiled at Cassie as the girl fawned over her hair.

“You always style your hair in such awesome ways. I could barely get my bangs to do this.” She motioned to her hair as she let out a disgruntled sigh.

Kelly was only half listening as the lights from the dance cast shadows on Liz’s face, making it look like her eyes were glowing. She had to look away as she inquired where the snacks were.

Berna and Cassie led the way as they took her to a table laden with various Halloween themed snacks. There were mummies in a blanket. Ghost cookies. Rice crispy treats done up with Frankenstein’s monster’s head. And the punch had skinned grapes floating in it for some reason.

“I think they are supposed to be eyeballs,” stated Berna with a roll of her eyes, “We are in college now, but this party feels like something from middle school.”

Kelly didn’t really mind. It was nice just to attend an event with her friends. They hadn’t spent much time together outside of missions and training sessions lately.

“Let’s just enjoy it for what it is,” stated Liz, “a night to hang out and have fun.”

Kelly smiled as the girl came up, flopping her arms over Berna and Cassie’s shoulders. She always knew how to draw people together and make a lame situation seem fun.

The others smiled, nodding as they got to work filling their plates with snacks. Once they’d gotten their food they found an edge of the wall where they could watch the other party goers as they enjoyed their snacks and commented on the various costumes.

“What do you think she’s supposed to be?” asked Curtis as he pointed at a girl in an orange sweater with big black glasses.

“I think she’ supposed to be a pumpkin.”

“Looks more like Velma from Scooby-Doo to me,” said Cassie.

The group continued on like this, laughing and carrying on like actual teenagers. Not like monster hunting babysitters trained in taking down monsters. And for a time Kelly forgot she was any of those things as she ate snacks and laughed with her friends.

Thirty minutes into the night she noticed Liz had not come back from getting the group drinks. Heading off she found the girl standing at the back doors of the cafeteria. Her cellphone was out, the light from the screen making her expression look grim. As Kelly came closer she took note of the screen, a text from Liz’s brother.

“How’s Kevin?”

Liz didn’t look startled from the girls approach. Having been trained to fight monsters she was always aware of her surroundings.

She smiled as she looked back at the text affectionately like it was her brother standing in front of her.

“He’s good. He was just telling me about his own college party.”

“How is he liking Massachusetts?”

While Liz had stayed in Rhode Island to go to school, her brother had opted to attend a vocational-tech school. While he lived in the college dorm he came home on weekends, but had chosen to stay in town that weekend for his own Halloween celebration.

“Is he wearing a costume?”

Liz shook her head as she was distracted for a moment while sending a reply to her brother.

“He still doesn’t like the whole dress up thing. Him and his friends are just hanging out at their dorm watching not so scary movies and filling up on junk food.”

Kelly nodded totally understanding the boy’s reasoning. He had lived in a nightmare world for several years after he’d been kidnapped by a Boogeyman. Of course he was keen on avoiding a night filled with monsters and ghouls. Even if most of it was pretend.

“I’m glad he was able to find some friends he could spend a non-spooky night with.”

Liz smiled, “Me too.”

Kelly pressed her lips together, unsure if she should wait for Liz to finish or just leave her. Before she could decide Liz put her cellphone in her back pocket before turning to fix her with a smile.

“Hey uh, did you, uh, want to,” she motioned forward with her chin. Kelly turned, looking out over the cafeteria as she tried to figure out what the girl was asking.

Turning back she gave her a confused eyebrow lift, “Did I want to what?”

Liz let out long exhale as she turned her gaze to the side for a moment. She looked nervous. Something Kelly could not ever recall seeing.

In all the years they’d spent together Liz had always been so fearless. When standing up to boogeymen or mean girls at parties she never backed down. But right now she looked like she didn’t know what o do with her hands as she slid them into her back pockets then thought better of it as she folded her arms across her chest.

“Well, uh, it’s just, I was thinking,” she reached up to brush back her hair, then paused as if remembering it wasn’t her actual hair as she returned her hands to her sides where they hung awkwardly, “did you want to dance? You know, like in the movie,” she looked helpless as she motioned out to the dance floor. She let out a breathy laugh that sounded strained before going quiet as she licked her lips.

Kelly felt her own nerves go silly as she also forgot what she was supposed to do with her hands.

“Uh yeah, we could, we could do that.”

Her body felt like it belonged to someone else as she marched out onto the dance floor with Liz at her side. They turned to face each other; looking robotic as they both struggled for a moment in figuring out where to place their hands.

Did she put her hand on Liz’s shoulder or her waist?

No, not her waist. Her heart spiked from her fingers just coming close to that area.

Sure, she could wrap her arms around Liz when they were on a bike, but that was for safety. Doing it during a dance was an entirely different thing.

Liz eventually let out a resolved sigh as she took a hold of Kelly’s hands. Placing one of her shoulder she kept the other in her lead hand as she slid her other hand around Kelly’s waist.

That looked to be all she could manage as they stood for another moment, neither moving as the music played around them.

Kelly had never danced before, but as they stood there her math sight, as Liz had named it, activated.

The world around her filled with numbers and geometric shapes as she worked out how best they could move around the floor.

Licking her lips, she took a breathe to calm herself then said, “I’ve got this.”

She took the lead as they started to move around the floor. While her mind focused on the shapes in her mind, Liz moved with her, stepping back when Kelly stepped forward, leaning into her when they made a turn around another couple. Just like when they fought monsters they were in sync. Perfectly matched. Balanced like a well-made blade.

Eventually Liz took the lead as she immediately dipped Kelly back. In that moment their eyes met, Liz’s eyes sparkling like blue lightning. Then they were upright again as Kelly’s eyes spun for an extra moment as her pulse pounded in her head.

When the song was over the two stopped, Liz taking her hands back to herself as she rubbed her palms on her pants.

Should she ask her for another dance?

Before she could she heard someone call her name as she looked back to find Victor coming over.

“Here you are. Wow, you look amazing.”

She thanked him, noticing out of the corner of her eye Liz frowning. As Victor explained his own costume she noticed Liz slip away, heading to the back exit door of the room.

“That’s cool, Victor. Can you give me a minute? I need to check on something.”

She was off before the guy could agree as she headed after Liz.

The girl was staring at the night’s sky when she found her.

Without turning to see who it was, Liz just knew, she asked, “Why did you follow me? I was giving you guys some alone time.”

She frowned as she stepped to her friend’s side, “Why?”

Liz looked away but again she caught the frown on the girl’s face, “I know you’ve had a crush on him forever.”

“I did.”

Liz looked at her, her expression studying like she was trying to figure out a math equation.

What was it about Kelly she was finding so confusing in this moment?

“Did? Like you don’t anymore.”

Kelly let out a heavy sigh as her eyes drifted up to the sky. They were too close to the city to see the stars that night. Disappointing. It would have been nice.

“We went on a date last year.”

“Finally.”

Kelly laughed at the exasperation in her friend’s voice, “I know, right. I kept putting it off,” her smile faded into a thoughtful frown, “I guess that should have been a clue that I didn’t like him anymore. I kept coming up with excuses not to hang out with him after school. Things like homework, or babysitting, or cleaning out the chute at the lab. But when we finally went on a date I realized it wasn’t Victor I wanted there.”

Kelly glanced over at Liz. The girl was looking at her intensely so that she couldn’t maintain eye contact as she looked away.

Liz was her partner. The person she trusted the most when she was out on missions. But somewhere along the way she had started to think of her as more than just a capable babysitter. But it was foolish to think that Liz felt the same.

Still…

“Kelly.”

She faced her friend fully as Liz chewed on her lower lip before admitting, “I’m happy to hear that you don’t like Victor. I never really got what you saw in him. You are a smart girl, and I get he’s nice, but you are a monster butt kicking bad ass and he’s just--,” she motioned weakly to the side, “I guess I just pictured you going out with someone else.”

Kelly’s heart leapt as she recalled her own wish the night of the date. A wish that Liz had been the one sitting across from her.

“And who would you rather I go out with?”

Liz rubbed the back of her neck. In the moonlight it actually looked to Kelly like she was blushing. She couldn’t ever recall seeing her bad ass friend do that either.

What was going on tonight?

Dropping her hand to her side, Liz mumbled, “Maybe someone more like me. Or just…me.”

Kelly only considered that she should have asked for permission after she felt her lips press against Liz’s. As soon as she did she pulled back letting out a hurried, “I’m sorry. I should have asked your permission.”

Liz didn’t look mad as she smiled, “Woah, Kelly Ferguson you just jumped feet first into that.”

She felt her own face flush as her eyes dropped to the cement steps, “Yeah, sorry. I just…I have liked you for a long time and hearing that you might like me back..I just got a little excited.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. I’m glad you did it. I’ve been wanting to kiss you for—I don’t even know how long, but I thought you still liked Victor.”

She shook her head, smiling as she realized everything she had been worrying about for so long had been solved with a single kiss, “No. I haven’t liked him for a long time. I like you, Liz Lerue.”

The girl smiled as she slid her hand around Kelly’s waist, pulling her in as she inquired, “Does this mean I have your consent to kiss you?”

Kelly nodded, too breathless to speak as she gazed up into Liz’s eyes.

They kissed again and it was like a choir singing as bell’s chimed. Alarm bells, as she heard Liz let out an annoyed groan before pulling away.

Liz pulled out her phone, frowning as the monster alert showed on the screen.

Putting the phone back in her pocket she gave Kelly a disappointed shrug as she said, “So partner, you ready to do this?”

She smiled, “Always, partner.”

As they headed to the bike, Kelly realized this wasn’t the first Halloween that had been special for the pair.

It had been Halloween the first time they’d met. The first time they’d saved a child from a monster. The first time they’d defeated a big baddy. And now, all these years later, it was Halloween night when they had kissed..

She smiled as she got onto the bike, wrapping her arms around Liz’s waist as her lips tingled with the memory of the kiss. Their first kiss. And hopefully not the last.

But first: monsters.

“Let’s go!”


End file.
